​The following will be a further in depth examination of the area around the payphone at the intersection of Springs Road and Tuolumne Street, where the Zodiac Killer placed a phone call to police dispatcher Nancy Slover at 12:40 am on July 5th 1969.
Firstly, we will take a closer look into the possibility the Zodiac Killer placed three phone calls rather than the accepted two, beginning on December 20th 1968, shortly after the double murder of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen on Lake Herman Road.

Pierre Bidou, one of the responding officers to the Lake Herman Road murders was interviewed by the Benicia Herald, in which was stated "Bidou and his partner had served a warrant on a Lake Herman Road cabin Dec. 20, 1968, and were on their way to deposit some marijuana in the police department’s evidence locker when they were dispatched back to Lake Herman Road. Initially, they were told a woman was lying outside a car; they thought they were being sent to a crash. Police at first speculated it might have been a crank call, but the officers headed back north. But when they arrived, Bidou realized it was no crank call and no car accident. Instead, it was a sinister crime scene".

If true, somebody may have phoned the police to report a car accident - although it was perceived as a crank call. ​Clearly, something must have triggered this belief, as a car accident is not something to be taken lightly, yet it was perceived as suspect. This phone call (if placed) must have been received between the time of the murders and 11:25 pm, the earliest time that Captain Daniel Pitta received the disturbing account of Stella Medeiros and then radioed in to police headquarters. There should be no conceivable reason why a respected officer of the law, radioing in on police frequency the account of Stella Medeiros (Borges) about bodies on the ground, should be construed as a crank call, unless shortly before or around the same time they had received another incoming call pertaining to a car accident on Lake Herman Road. If this phone call had been placed by an unknown party, they would have rang police literally minutes after the murders.
 
The last person to pass the fateful turnout prior to the murders was James Owen, estimated between 11:09 -11:14 pm. The phone call (if the murderer), would indicate the payphone used to have been approximately 10 to 15 minutes away from the Lake Herman Road turnout, had he traveled directly there. This is because Officer Pierre Bidou received the information about the crank call as he and his partner were "on their way to deposit some marijuana in the police department’s evidence locker", after which they immediately returned back to Lake Herman Road. We know his approximate time of arrival at the crime scene and therefore the approximate time he was dispatched to it. This ties nicely with a potential phone call from the Zodiac Killer, delivered from the exact payphone he used after the Blue Rock Springs Park attack on Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin. This payphone is 11 to 13 minutes traveling time from the Lake Herman Road turnout.     

If this call was the Zodiac Killer, why didn't he just lay claim to the murders as he had done in his two following attacks. He may simply have just gained pleasure by calling it in and describing it as a car accident, toying with police - or does his following two phone calls give us a clue. If he had spotted a potential eyewitness near the payphone, he may have instinctively changed the message from a double murder to a car accident, thereby avoiding any future ramifications had he somehow been traced. He then would have only been a concerned citizen. Did this influence his method of operation on July 5th 1969?

In the August 4th 1969 'Debut of Zodiac' letter he stated "I drove away quite slowly so as not to draw attention to my car. The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed. I was in this phone booth having some fun with the Vallejo cop when he was walking by. When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car". There are several reasons to believe the Zodiac Killer invented this eyewitness, but not the ringing payphone. The way he constructed this passage of text may be extremely well thought out, to give the impression he was still in his vehicle, as opposed to on foot. Had he parked his vehicle at his residence and walked to the payphone, the last thing he wanted to do is reveal this to investigators, as reconstructing the timeline would place his residence in the very near vicinity.
The first section of the passage is effectively true -  he drove away from the scene of the crime in his car. He then immediately reinforces the idea to police that he is still in his vehicle, by offering up a potential eyewitness to the said vehicle and giving up unnecessary details about the eyewitness in an attempt to make him more real, such as his age range and mode of dress. Information that not only could be helpful to police in possibly tracking the eyewitness down, but also an eyewitness who potentially could reinforce the notion his vehicle was brown (knowing he would never be found, because he didn't exist). The Zodiac Killer, having read the newspaper reports of his vehicle being described as brown by Michael Mageau, is effectively using the negro male to corroborate the color of his vehicle - which may indicate his vehicle was anything but brown. A killer offering up useful information to investigators has to be viewed with suspicion. 

Finally, just in case the police hadn't got the message, he delivers his car into the passage for a third time: "When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car". The phone rang - but there was no vehicle. The ringing payphone could have drawn attention to him in the early morning hours, and may have been the reason he left the receiver off the hook at 1231 Main Street, Napa, after the Lake Berryessa attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard. The ringing payphone was the perfect opportunity to fictitiously place his brown car at the payphone and corroborate the 'fact' by an over-detailed description of an eyewitness. Using this hypothesis and the time of the shooting, would likely place the killer's residence within a 15-20 minute walking radius of the payphone. His experiences after the Lake Herman Road murders may have influenced his decision to place the phone call without his car in tow, and lessen the risk of his vehicle being connected to that location.    

After the Lake Berryessa attack, the Zodiac Killer was possibly heading along California State Route 29 towards Vallejo, where many observers believe he lived. The western edge of Tuolumne Street by Flosden Acres, borders this route, so would take the killer to the area just north of the payphone. Whether he took this route is obviously unknown, but his directional movement after the first two crimes may possibly suggest this is a viable option. 

The Zodiac Killer in all likelihood didn't know any of his victims, but this cannot be totally ruled out. David Faraday was present on Sonoma Boulevard four hours prior to his murder. The 4th July 1969 annual parade in Vallejo began at 10:00 am and traveled south on Sonoma Boulevard. Darlene Ferrin went to the lighted boat parade the evening of her death.
Ricardo Gomez of MK Zodiac has written an excellent article on this topic, with a possible connection to the Zodiac 408 cipher and the Zodiac 'buttons'.
 
On page 31 of the LHR police report it states "Joe was interviewed at the Faraday residence, 1930 Sereno Drive. He was a personal friend of David. He states David had no enemies to his knowledge. David met Betty Lou approximately a week ago at the Pythian Castle where they were decorating the hall for a social event". 
On page 53 it states "Mrs Faraday stated she did not know Betty Lou that she and David had only been going together for a short time, she had never met Betty Lou. She stated she did not know of any enemies David may have had. She stated that on Friday night at 7.10 pm David drove his sister Debbie to a meeting of the Rainbow Girls at the Pythian Castle on Sonoma Boulevard, and David came back home at 7.20 pm and left again at 7.30 pm. Responding officer talked to Debbie Faraday, WFJ 16 years, sister of David. She relates the following David told her on the afternoon of Friday 12/20/68 that he was going out to Lake Herman Road that night because a bunch of the kids were going out there that night".
 ​
What is the likelihood Zodiac resided close to the intersection of Springs Road and Tuolumne Street, and had crossed paths with some of his victims in this neighborhood? Did his profession give him intimate knowledge of the movements or plans of his young victims? A serial killer usually begins his crimes close to home, somewhere he is familiar with, before he eventually gains in confidence and ventures further afield. So, if the Zodiac Killer had lived in Vallejo near the payphone, he would use victim availability, the least effort principle and a buffer zone to select his first attacks (both on Friday), particularly if he worked 9-5, Monday to Friday, in which time constraints would obviously have a bearing. A recent survey in Germany studied the locations of serial killer victims in respect to the killer's home residence and found that 63% of the time the killer lived within a 6 mile traveling distance to the crime scene. So putting all these factors together, we could expect the Zodiac Killer's first murders at Lake Herman Road on December 20th 1968 and Blue Rock Springs Park on July 4th 1969 to be only a matter of a few miles from his house. The payphone is 6.2 miles from the turnout at Lake Herman Road and 3.6 miles from Blue Rock Springs Park.

We also have to consider that if the Zodiac Killer lived further away from the payphone area, such as American Canyon, Napa or San Francisco, why didn't he apply a greater buffer zone from the crime scene to his choice of payphone, as opposed to making the phone call only 3.6 miles (2.85 miles as the crow flies) from the crime scene and extremely close to the police station. Possibly, because in his early crimes he chose to take less risk - his objective being to head home almost immediately to discard the weapon and secure his vehicle. His third and fourth crimes showed increased confidence, but crucially both were on a Saturday, therefore he was less constrained by time, had he worked during the week. 

The Zodiac Killer's first two attacks in remote areas may have indicated that he trolled Lake Herman Road and Columbus Parkway looking to find victims. This would suggest a prior knowledge of these areas being frequented by courting couples. ​"David told Debbie on the afternoon of Friday 12/20/68 that he was going out to Lake Herman Road that night because a bunch of the kids were going out there that night". Was the killer aware of these plans? Did he track Darlene Ferrin after the parade? It may be unlikely, but these questions have to be asked. 

Additionally, would a killer who didn't live in the near vicinity of the crimes, have such a good grasp of his spatial awareness. In the July 31st 1969 letters he stated the "Girl was lyeing on right side feet to west", and contrary to popular belief, his payphone directions were also fairly accurate, if taken from either the payphone or police station. He stated "I wish to report a double murder. If you will go one mile east...... on Columbus Parkway to a public park, you will find the kids in a brown car. They have been shot by a 9 mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year.... Good-bye"  When you insert a break or comma after "east", the directions are perfectly fine, other than "one mile east" should have been "1.34 miles east on Springs Road".  Columbus Parkway is east of the payphone and police station. His compass directions were correct in both instances. He could of course (if unsure) have checked a map prior to the Blue Rock Springs attack, but that would rely on knowing in advance exactly where his attack was going to take place. He could have checked a map after the attack and before the payphone call. Or he could have known the area well.

THE ADDITION OF ONE FULL STOP - Examining the phone call after the BRS attack and showing the directions given by the killer were correct.

Episode three of the Zodiac History Channel docudrama has just aired on November 28th 2017. The two previous episodes, although not groundbreaking, contained certain interesting features about the Zodiac case. However, episode three left a lingering taste of disappointment in the mouth, presenting tired old stories in the guise of "the team has discovered," including the Lawrence Kane connection.

The episode began with investigators digging up a random piece of ground near Mount Diablo in the vain hope of unearthing a supposed planted bomb some 47 years after the fact, that left one feeling rather underwhelmed, before chasing down another well trodden path in the search for the possible burial place of Donna Lass in the region of Donner Memorial State Park using a code that has nothing to do with the Zodiac Killer.

Lawrence Kane has now seemingly usurped Riverside suspect Ross Sullivan, and in the process, Zodiac has lost five inches in height, which now apparently isn't that big an issue - a suspect bolstered by former Detective Sergeant Ed Rust, brought on to give credence to this 'new' avenue of investigation. The Zodiac Killer has now become a criminal mastermind, tossing Professor James Moriarty onto the scrapheap, as the supercomputer Carmel splutters to metamorphosize into Zodiac's brain, aiming to unlock the Picasso of all ciphers. The transformation of a cold-blooded murderer who was extremely lucky to evade capture, from chrysalis to butterfly, is almost complete. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

The final 'revelation' on the History Channel was the Dali symbol and 13 Moon Calendar, discovered without the services of Carmel, yet a cursory search of 'Zodiac Killer 13 Moon Calendar' using another piece of amazing technology called Google, would have shown I made this discovery on January 21st 2013 and outlined in several articles on this site. Although not presented as a new find by the team, the shock and awe with agape mouths, was no doubt intended to give this impression.
In case anybody is interested, here is the full list of the Dali dates, all falling on the first day of the 13 Moon Calendar: 
David Faraday, December 20th 1968, Betty Lou Jensen, December 20th 1968, Darlene Ferrin, July 4th 1969, Cecelia Shepard, September 27th 1969, Paul Stine, October 11th 1969, John Hood, February 21st 1970, Sandra Garcia, February 21st 1970, Thomas Dolan, July 4th 1970 and Homer Shadwick, July 4th 1970 - all of which fall on the first day of the 13 Moon Calendar week.

Additional possible victims include Nancy Bennallack, October 25th 1970, Judith Hakari, March 7th 1970, Robin Graham, November 15th 1970, Jeanette Kamahele, April 25th 1972 and  Lynn Maureen Derrick, July 26th 1972. The Zodiac compiled his 'Little List' on July 26th 1970. This again falls on the Dali symbol and is the beginning of the 13 Moon Calendar. The November 8th 1969 340 cipher also falls in line. The first three attacks by Zodiac all sit under the Dali symbol, but crucially all fall on day 8, lending some credence to the three circled 8's on the 13-Symbol cipher. The three circles being symbols for the moon. 

This story regarding the recollections of Sandy Betts has been taken and edited from the 'Zodiac Killer Mystery' forum hosted by Ricardo Gomez. 

​I was curious to see who this person was, so I kept my lights off and pulled up alongside his vehicle. He was looking at my driveway as if to say 'where is she.'  When I looked at his face, I saw the hatred in his 'contorted' face and feared that even by running to my front door I may not make it. This guy looked as if he hated me and thoughts spiraled in my mind that possibly my ex-husband had hired a hit man to kill me, so he wouldn't have to pay child support for our three children.

I kept on driving back towards town, where two police officers in two police cars were talking at the gas station on the intersection of Soscol and Imola Avenue. I got out of my car and proceeded to outline what had just occurred, when the same car came across Soscol Avenue behind the gas station. There was an all-night pancake house there. I pointed at him as he crossed, but he simply looked at me talking to the officers. It certainly didn't seem to bother him, because he still drove into the parking lot of the restaurant. One officer told the other: "Joe you go check that guy out and I will follow her home to make sure she is safe".

A few months later, Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau were shot in Vallejo on July 4th 1969. Michael Mageau had told investigators that the shooter's car was light brown, possibly a Falcon. This tallied with the vehicle that had followed me from Vallejo, so I called Napa Police Department and asked if they had noted the man’s name that followed me in the report that night. The woman I spoke to located the report, but it didn't show the name of the man. I didn't think to tell her that there could be two reports, because there were two officers. That phone call to Napa Police Department was made in July 1969.

​My divorce was about final- the children and I moved away from Napa to Rio Vista where their father had moved, so they wouldn’t be too far from him. I got a job at the Spindrift Marina Restaurant on the San Joaquin river, working three days a week- the other four I spent fishing with my children.

I started getting phone calls and could hear someone breathing, but whomever it was would never say anything. Then the car kept having odd problems, like the oil filter can would fall off while I was driving and all of the oil would leak out. Or my tire would be flat while I was parked at my apartment. I was still going to Vallejo to the Coronado Inn at night from time to time and still seeing Buzz Gordon, a cop that I started to date while I was working in Vallejo in 1969. We dated for about five years, not knowing he was married at that time. Furthermore, then finding out that he had gone out with Darlene Ferrin and was a Zodiac suspect. He and I would be in his squad car, go to the areas where we thought the Zodiac Killer might go, so we could catch him. He would have his 9 millimeter ready, just in case the Zodiac showed up. I actually offered myself as a decoy to Vallejo Police Department, but they told me that they had no idea when or where Zodiac would strike again and that they didn’t have the money or manpower to do that. I look back on that now and how foolish I was for making that offer. I always wanted to work in law enforcement and bust drug dealers, or work at solving murders. That started in the 1950s, with the case of Stephanie Bryant who was kidnapped from Berkeley on April 28th 1955, then murdered. To this day I do not feel that Burton Abbott was her killer.

Episode four of the History Channel docudrama to air on December 5th 2017, includes analysis of the New York Albany letter, authored by somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer.

The August 1st 1973 letter threatened to kill somebody from the Albany Medical Center on August 10th at 5:00 pm during a shift change, despite nothing materializing from this threat. 
Inevitable links will be made with Darlene Ferrin and her husband James Phillips, because he worked for the Albany Times-Union newspaper in the same building as occupied by the Albany Knickerbocker News, forever connected to Zodiac suspect Richard Gaikowski. However, they moved there in 1966, seven years prior to the mailing of this correspondence, so the link is tenuous at best. Opinions vary on this letter, so take a look yourself and make your own mind up.

http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/the-albany-letter

The second episode in the five-part docudrama will air on the History Channel tonight (November 21st), examining a possible military connection to the Zodiac Killer. The two investigators unearth new evidence in their quest for the identity of the elusive murderer.

The third episode of the The Hunt for the Zodiac Killer begins November 28th at 10:03 pm EST in the USA. ​The team's supercomputer CARMEL has apparently discovered a lunar pattern to the Zodiac murders. 

On January 21st 2013, I discovered a link tying thirteen possible Zodiac murders in just 23 months, using the Perpetual Thirteen Moon Calendar, in which a year is split into 13 months of 28 days. These thirteen murders included David Faraday (December 20th 1968), Betty Lou Jensen (December 20th 1968), Darlene Ferrin (July 4th 1969), Cecelia Shepard (September 27th 1969), Paul Stine (October 11th 1969), John Hood (February 21st 1970), Sandra Garcia (February 21st 1970), Thomas Dolan (July 4th 1970) and Homer Shadwick (July 4th 1970), all of whom were killed on a particular date within this calendar.

This lunar pattern links all the killings - but is it the one that CARMEL has uncovered? Tune in next week and discover that I am totally wrong. 
​

It has long been debated whether the Confession letter sent on November 29th 1966 was the work of the Zodiac Killer. In a recent History Channel docudrama about the Zodiac Killer, the typed Confession letter was analyzed, looking for words that may connect the author of the Riverside correspondence with the infamous Zodiac Killer, focusing on words such as "twich" and "squirm". Here, we will go much further and analyze the readability level of the Confession letter, and compare it with known Zodiac correspondence. The idea, is that even if the author of each correspondence was deliberately misspelling words or dumbing down the intellectual content in each letter, he should be consistently achieving the same readability level. If there is some degree of correlation between the Confession letter and the Zodiac correspondence, it may bolster the argument that the two cases are related - including the stabbing of Cheri Jo Bates and the Bay Area murders. 

The readability level of the above text of this article has an average grade level of 17.04 and a median grade level of 16.40. The November 29th 1966 Confession letter has average grade level of 3.80 and a median grade level of 3.97. These results were calculated using five tools: the Gunning fog index, the Flesch-Kincaid readability tests, the SMOG grade, the Coleman-Liau index and the Automated readability index. Here is a brief run down of each from Wikipedia and their respective link.

Gunning fog index: In linguistics, the Gunning fog index is a readability test for English writing. The index estimates the years of formal education a person needs to understand the text on the first reading. A fog index of 12 requires the reading level of a U.S. high school senior (around 18 years old). The test was developed by Robert Gunning, an American businessman, in 1952. The fog index is commonly used to confirm that text can be read easily by the intended audience. Texts for a wide audience generally need a fog index less than 12. Texts requiring near-universal understanding generally need an index less than 8.
Flesch-Kincaid readability tests: The Flesch–Kincaid readability tests are readability tests designed to indicate how difficult a passage in English is to understand. There are two tests, the Flesch Reading Ease, and the Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level. Although they use the same core measures (word length and sentence length), they have different weighting factors. The results of the two tests correlate approximately inversely: a text with a comparatively high score on the Reading Ease test should have a lower score on the Grade-Level test. Rudolf Flesch devised the Reading Ease evaluation; somewhat later, he and J. Peter Kincaid developed the Grade Level evaluation for the United States Navy.
SMOG grade: The SMOG grade is a measure of readability that estimates the years of education needed to understand a piece of writing. SMOG is an acronym for Simple Measure of Gobbledygook. SMOG is widely used, particularly for checking health messages. The SMOG grade yields a 0.985 correlation with a standard error of 1.5159 grades with the grades of readers who had 100% comprehension of test materials. The formula for calculating the SMOG grade was developed by G. Harry McLaughlin as a more accurate and more easily calculated substitute for the Gunning fog index and published in 1969. To make calculating a text's readability as simple as possible an approximate formula was also given — count the words of three or more syllables in three 10-sentence samples, estimate the count's square root (from the nearest perfect square), and add 3.
Coleman-Liau index: The Coleman–Liau index is a readability test designed by Meri Coleman and T. L. Liau to gauge the understandability of a text. Like the Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level, Gunning fog index, SMOG index, and Automated Readability Index, its output approximates the U.S. grade level thought necessary to comprehend the text. Like the ARI but unlike most of the other indices, Coleman–Liau relies on characters instead of syllables per word. Although opinion varies on its accuracy as compared to the syllable/word and complex word indices, characters are more readily and accurately counted by computer programs than are syllables.
Automated readability index: The automated readability index (ARI) is a readability test for English texts, designed to gauge the understandability of a text. Like the Flesch–Kincaid grade level, Gunning fog index, SMOG index, Fry readability formula, and Coleman–Liau index, it produces an approximate representation of the US grade level needed to comprehend the text.

As another guide, I used the written text from the Coleman–Liau index above to generate an average grade level of 15.69 and a median grade level of 15.72. To check any section of text or the given examples, visit here. Here are the results:

The Confession letter 11/29/66 has average grade level of 3.80 and a median grade level of 3.97. 
The Riverside Desktop poem 1966 has average grade level of 3.89 and a median grade level of 4.00.
The San Francisco Chronicle 7/31/69 has average grade level of 8.15 and a median grade level of 8.12.
The Debut of Zodiac letter 8/4/69 has average grade level of 6.73 and a median grade level of 5.96.
The Paul Stine letter 10/13/69 has average grade level of 7.71 and a median grade level of 7.83.
The Bus Bomb letter 11/9/69 has average grade level of 8.56 and a median grade level of 8.69.
The Melvin Belli letter 12/20/69 has average grade level of 6.25 and a median grade level of 5.66.

The readability levels of the 1966 correspondence is notably lower than the initial Zodiac correspondence, although one has to factor in the near three-year maturation of the subject, if indeed they are the same individual. But both are extremely low on the scale, indicating the Zodiac Killer and author of the Confession letter were either extremely uneducated, or extremely accomplished at pretending to be uneducated. Whatever the case, there is a notable shift from 1966 to 1969.
​The above enlarged text has average grade level of 16.50 and a median grade level of 16.27, which highlights the difference in readability level the author in Riverside and northern California was operating at, either by intention or not.

https://charactercounttool.com/

Inspired by the first episode of the Zodiac Killer docudrama, which aired on November 14th 2017, we will take a completely fresh look at the Cheri Jo Bates murder using only newspaper and magazine articles as our guide, and completely disregard anything contained in the material provided by Robert Graysmith. It will also disregard any preconceptions of the crime formulated by investigators and the 'Confession' letter sent on November 29th 1966, approximately one month after the brutal murder.

​The 'Confession' letter author likely played into the suppositions of investigators, who almost immediately ran with the narrative that Cheri Jo Bates had her Volkswagen Beetle tampered with while she was in the library, despite the fact little supports this conclusion. Let us start in and around the library annex just before opening time.

The 'Inside Detective' magazine recalled that a Mexican-American student noticed Cheri Jo Bates close to opening time and shortly after - who stated 'he knew Cheri Jo Bates and had noticed her in the library the night in question. He said he saw the girl "writing something with a ball point pen" in her blue spiral school notebook." The boy told us he was outside about 5:30 pm, waiting for the library to open at 6, and it was then he saw the girl.' It clearly states he had 'noticed her in the library the night in question' - therefore presumably after 6:00 pm. 

The 'Inside Detective' Magazine also stated "The participants in the reenactment at the detectives' request, wore the same clothing and sat in the same seats that they had occupied the Sunday night of the murder. They were also asked to park their cars in the same places they had on the night of October 30. It had been determined that Cheri Jo (or a girl resembling her and in similar clothes) had arrived at the library about 5:40 pm and waited for about 20 minutes for the doors to be opened. The girl apparently entered the library as soon as the doors were opened at 6.00 pm, and checked out the books she had come for".

Taking this completely at face value, and the fact her library books were discovered on the passenger side seat of her vehicle, we will assume she entered the library at opening time and discharged her reading material. Sergeant Gren stated "The girl was definitely in the library as she checked out the books. She must have been contacted by the murderer as soon as she received her books". The key words here, are she "checked out her books". The article continued "However, other students who were acquainted with Cheri Jo said they were in the library between 6:30 and 6:40 pm- and did not see the girl during that time." Neither did Walter Siebert, who stated that "he and a few friends were in the library from 7:15 pm until 9, but did not see Miss Bates, whom they all knew. They said they saw four men dressed in work clothes sitting on a fence across from the spot where Miss Bates' car was found, but they did not know them".
 
It is therefore extremely likely Cheri Jo Bates entered the library at 6:00 pm and left before 6:30 pm, having checked out her books. The four men in work clothes are crucial. They stated to investigators that "they had seen Cheri Jo near her car the previous night". But what time and where? It is reasonable to assume it may have been slightly before 5:30 pm, since the Mexican-American student and the female eyewitness saw Cheri Jo Bates at 5:30 pm, 5:40 pm and the time she entered the library at 6:00 pm.

​The Riverside City College was undergoing renovation at the time, so these four men may have been passing the area of the college campus around this time - probably working within the college campus on a Sunday, at a time when certain areas were free from student activity. This may be a reasonable supposition, because they were still in the vicinity when Walter Siebert arrived at 7:15 pm, at which time they were sitting on a fence on the north side of Terracina Drive. They may have been taking a break. Walter Siebert and friends never laid eyes on Cheri Jo Bates that evening, nor did they, or any other person familiar with the young girl, spot her striking lime green Volkswagen Beetle (or at the very least was it wasn't reported), despite the fact it was supposedly parked only 30 yards or 90 feet east of the library entrance. Walter Siebert and friends said "they saw four men dressed in work clothes sitting on a fence across from the spot where Miss Bates' car was found, but they did not know them". Walter Siebert only said the four men were located across from the position the vehicle "was found", not from the position of the vehicle that evening. Indicating they never saw her vehicle on the evening of October 30th 1966. In fact, not one of the attendees to the library that evening or night stated they spotted Cheri Jo Bates' vehicle in the position it was found. "They were also asked to park their cars in the same places they had on the night of October 30", yet apparently not one parked near the lime green Volkswagen Beetle, or noted its position on Terracina Drive.​  

Is it possible they didn't notice her vehicle because it wasn't there? Cheri Jo Bates parked her vehicle up that evening, and was noticed by the four men (but not necessarily exactly 30 yards east of the library), who said "they had seen Cheri Jo near her car the previous night". She then entered the library, "checked out her books," left before 6:30 pm and possibly drove away, bucking the supposition of detectives, who assumed the perpetrator disabled her vehicle while she was in the library, and wrongly concluded her vehicle remained idle from the moment she parked up, to the following morning when her vehicle was ultimately discovered. 

A perpetrator disabling her vehicle, would had to have done so approximately 90 feet from the library entrance, risking being spotted and then killed her within minutes, despite the fact the young woman's body would have lain in the alleyway for around 4 hours that evening, without anybody walking down the alleyway, and completely negating the screams being heard around 10:30 pm by at least two earwitnesses. It makes little sense, and therefore is highly unlikely.

This is why the 'Confession' letter is highly suspect. It is simply parroting what investigators immediately concluded after discovering the disabled Volkswagen Beetle, and what was widely reported in the newspapers in the aftermath of the murder. The 'Confession' letter revealed no details only privy to the murderer - and even if its author was the killer of Cheri Jo Bates, he was only too happy to concur with the conclusions of the police investigation, especially if it steered the investigators away from what really happened on October 30th 1966, and even more importantly, centered the focus around the library annex and college campus. The 'Confession' letter should have been called the 'Confirmation' letter, as it effectively confirmed to police what they already believed, whereas the truth likely lay elsewhere. 

The 'Inside Detective' magazine also stated 'Two young girls who said they knew Cheri Jo, gave a taped interview to a crew from a Los Angeles television station. The girls in the interview, said that Cheri Jo had told them Sunday that she was "going to the library to meet her boyfriend." However, Sgt Gren said that while Cheri Jo had met her boyfriend in San Francisco the weekend prior to her murder, the boy was still in the Bay Area at the time of her death. The statements of the two girls were based on hearsay and not on fact Captain Cross told newsmen". It is clear this statement was prematurely dismissed by police, because according to the two girls, Cheri Jo Bates was supposedly "going to the library to meet her boyfriend". This cannot be misinterpreted as going to San Francisco to meet her boyfriend Dennis Highland, unless she was meeting him at a library in San Francisco. 
  
This is from Zodiackiller.com: "The relationship between Barnett and Cheri soured after Cheri returned from San Francisco, where she had visited her steady boyfriend. Cheri informed Barnett that she had accepted this boyfriend's wedding proposal and that she and Barnett could no longer date. (This conversation with Barnett occurred less than a week before her murder)". It is clear that the relationships of Cheri Jo Bates were less than clear cut, so it is by no means out of the question that Cheri Jo Bates may have made alternative plans that Sunday evening, once her friend Stephanie Guttmann declined her offer at 3:45 pm that day, to accompany her to the library. Cheri Jo Bates may have originally planned to meet a "boyfriend" after the library closed that evening, but her plans could have changed when Stephanie decided not to go to the library.     

Cheri Jo Bates was spotted near her vehicle by the four workmen just before 5:30 pm. We don't know where exactly she parked. The men may simply have walked past her somewhere near the college, and noticed her alongside the vehicle. It may have been in the near area it was eventually found. This would make sense, because investigators presumably asked the four men where they spotted Cheri Jo Bates and her vehicle, and it likely near concurred with the position of the vehicle the following morning, thereby not raising any red flags.

​Later, Walter Siebert and friends noticed the same four men sitting on a fence, likely taking a break, around 7:15 pm, but they didn't notice Cheri Jo Bates or her vehicle. Therefore, it is unlikely the four men  spotted Cheri Jo Bates alongside her vehicle at 7:15 pm, because if they had, Walter Siebert and friends would likely have noticed her and the Volkswagen Beetle too, which they didn't. Additionally, if investigators tied the two stories together, and assumed the four men noticed Cheri Jo Bates by her vehicle at 7:15 pm, then she would have supposedly been leaving the library. Had she been arriving at the library, then Walter Siebert and friends would have seen her in the library between 7:15 pm and 9:00 pm. But she couldn't have been leaving the library either, because Cheri Jo Bates had apparently entered at opening time and wasn't even spotted in the library between 6:30 pm and 6:40 pm, 

If Cheri Jo Bates checked out her books prior to 6:30 pm, why would she still be next to her vehicle at 7:15 pm. Had it been tampered with while in the library, she could have simply sought assistance inside the library or from her arriving friends. The whole scenario doesn't stack up. The four men must have spotted Cheri Jo Bates on her arrival to the library just before 5:30 pm and relayed this to police, that "they had seen Cheri Jo near her car the previous night".  At 7:15 pm, when the four men were spotted by Walter Siebert, Cheri Jo Bates and her vehicle were gone. Investigators likely assumed Cheri Jo Bates' vehicle remained throughout, as they had done from the very beginning, and the vehicle simply went unnoticed by Walter Siebert and company.

​Originally her plans were to visit the library to study with Stephanie Guttmann, but possibly her plans changed and she decided to meet with this "boyfriend". The eventual murder had all the hallmarks of a spurned admirer and 'crime of passion'.
The problem we have, is why would Cheri Jo Bates' vehicle have left the library and returned to effectively the same position some 4 hours later. Had she arranged to meet the 'mystery man' outside the library just after checking her books out, gone to a secondary location, before returning her 'passenger' where she picked him up. If so, did he live nearby and was familiar with the college campus, including the two empty houses along the alleyway. The fact that both windows were rolled down, with the keys in the ignition and doors unlocked, may suggest something erupted on their arrival back at the library. ​If he is carrying her books for her, the 'mystery man' may have exited the vehicle, placed the books on the seat, closed the right door, inadvertently leaving it slightly ajar, and then proceeded to disable her vehicle in the heat of the moment to prevent her leaving. This may explain her eagerness to vacate the vehicle and seek help. She is dragged into the alleyway, and the attack begins circa 10:30 pm. The author of the 'Confession' letter, if the killer, knew that by playing into the police narrative of the crime, the investigation would remain squarely around the college campus and make his confession completely worthwhile.      

November 14th 2017: An interesting opening to the Zodiac Killer docudrama on the History Channel, which focused primarily on the Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates on October 30th 1966 and the 340 cipher mailed by the Zodiac Killer on November 8th 1969. Although punctuated throughout with the expected over dramatic 'revelations', it will indeed provide compelling viewing for most Zodiac sleuths throughout the world and hopefully invigorate new interest in the near fifty-year-old murder mystery.

The Riverside link to Zodiac has yet to be fully established, despite the obvious inferences suggested in the History Channel documentary - although certainly the place a fledgling Zodiac would most likely have made his mistakes, could a connection be definitively ascertained. This was a point emphasized in the show early on. However, as highlighted in many previous documentaries, trying to shoehorn suspects into certain aspects of the case while blindly disregarding the obvious discrepancies, is fraught with danger. After watching the first episode, it is easy to see how Ross Sullivan has captured the imagination of many, desperate to link the subject to the Riverside murder and the infamous Zodiac Killer- but there are serious drawbacks to this particular suspect. 

Eyewitness recollections are notoriously unreliable, yet not one of the potential twelve eyewitnesses in the Zodiac case put Zodiac at 6'3", which is the height Ross Sullivan would have appeared wearing heeled military footwear. ​Michael Mageau, Bryan Hartnell, Cecelia Shepard, Dr. Clifton Rayfield, David Rayfield, the three young women, Donald Fouke and the three teenagers are key players in the Zodiac case, none of whom recollect a man of this height. ​Ross Sullivan was an extremely well-built individual, who would therefore had to have had a seven inch wrist, as testified by the Timex watch retrieved from the alleyway floor, only ten feet from the body of Cheri Jo Bates. The Department of Justice Report stated "Heelprints identical to those worn by Air Force personnel and a Timex wristwatch indicating the suspect had a 7" wrist circumference was found at the scene of the crime. The measurement of the heel indicated that it would have been attached to an 8 to 10 size shoe". In addition, apart from the sightings at Presidio Heights, where it's possible Zodiac donned Paul Stine's black-rimmed glasses, not one of the remaining eyewitnesses remember the possible killer wearing eyeglasses. The common assumption when considering a suspect, is to use a side-by-side comparison of the Presidio Heights sketch for likeness. The problem with this is twofold. Firstly, we cannot be sure the sketch is a perfect representation of the actual killer, and secondly, there is no evidence to suggest the Zodiac Killer wore glasses in his everyday life. Ross Sullivan 'apparently' disappeared after the Cheri Jo Bates murder, but the Riverside Police investigation was extremely thorough, fingerprinting and taking hair samples from countless people, that surely had to include Ross Sullivan had he worked at the library.                        

​Riverside City College library staff in later years detailed how Ross Sullivan was high on their list as the murderer, an unnerving man, who wrote morbid poems. However, the correspondence also stated "A couple of years ago I had called the police to ask about our suspect and was told he had an alibi for that night".
​
​It is important to understand the ferocity of the Cheri Jo Bates murder, in which she undoubtedly scratched her assailant. Whether Ross Sullivan 'disappeared' for two weeks or not, investigators would have still checked everybody for scratches to their arms, body and face, and fingerprinted the suspect - yet still he evaded detection. Detective Gren stated "There is a strong indication that Miss Bates scratched and clawed her murderer in the struggle for her life". They would also have taken handwriting samples. If the limited Riverside correspondence can be matched to the Zodiac Killer, then so too can the handwriting of Ross Sullivan, which clearly must have been undertaken. 

The documentary stated that Ross Sullivan can be placed in Santa Cruz, situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay. This is 125 miles south of Lake Berryessa, 96 miles south of Vallejo and 75 miles south of San Francisco. If this were the case, we then would have to assume that Ross Sullivan, despite work commitments, took a round trip of at least 150 miles or more to perpetrate four Zodiac attacks and mail fourteen letters on varying days of the week, between July 4tth 1969 and March 13th 1971. Finally implicating and drawing attention to himself and his Riverside exploits in the Los Angeles letter, stating "I do have to give them credit for stumbling across my riverside activity, but they are only finding the easy ones, there are a hell of a lot more down there". Implicating oneself in the Riverside murder of Cheri Jo Bates is not the 'genius' move of a highly intelligent individual, if you worked in the Riverside City College library and knew the victim. 

The "twich" and "squirm" link between the Riverside Confession letter and the Zodiac's Little List letter on July 26th 1970 could be a simple as Zodiac parroting key phrases he read in previously published articles on the Cheri Jo Bates murder. The odds of these words then matching falls to something far less statistically significant. It is still a noteworthy connection, warranting further investigation, but must be viewed with far more caution than that advocated. This is not meant to argue that Ross Sullivan should not be considered as a potential suspect in the Zodiac case, only that a necessary counterbalance is required when considering any leads in an already suspect laden case.

The five-part documentary should hopefully generate new interest in the Zodiac Killer investigation and create fresh impetus in a case now spanning five decades - and a case that is without doubt grinding under the heavy weight of expectation. The next episode will air on November 21st 2017.  

A home location for the Zodiac Killer was previously examined based on his movements after the July 4th 1969 Blue Rock Springs Park shooting and his possible misdirection in the August 4th 1969 'Debut of Zodiac' letter, where he stated "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed. I was in this phone booth having some fun with the Vallejo cop when he was walking by. When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car". It was argued, that by drawing our attention to the description of the male negro and the fact he had spotted the Zodiac's brown car, the killer was in fact disguising the reality, that he had actually walked to the payphone at Springs and Tuolumne rather than driven, thereby safeguarding his identity.

Approximating the attack at Blue Rock Springs Park to midnight, had he lived in the vicinity of the payphone, then his journey time from the attack site would have been approximately 10 minutes. Allowing for a further 10 minute turnaround to park his vehicle, ditch his weapon, change his clothes and prepare himself, we are left with a reasonable estimate of 15-20 minutes walking time to the payphone, affording him a reasonable buffer zone to his residence or base location. 

Many observers have speculated as to whether the Zodiac Killer knew any of his victims, or had crossed paths with them at any point in time. There is no solid evidence to believe such a relationship ever existed, but to even try to contend one existed, common ground must be sought. If our killer lived 15-20 minutes walking distance from the payphone, then it is reasonable to assert that he likely interacted with neighbors and the local community by way of convenience stores, churches and community centers. Although not fully established, the Zodiac Killer has been touted as having a military connection. It has also been suggested he may have belonged to a secret society, fraternal organization or satanic circle. So, in an attempt to give this notion a fair examination, we must first look at the locale in a 15-20 minute walking radius of the payphone, as well as any possible connections to the victims at Blue Rock Springs Park or Lake Herman Road, where his reign of terror began. To narrow down the search field further, the north side of the payphone was examined first, as it afforded separation from the police station nearby.              

First take a look at these three repeated symbols in the 340 character cipher, mailed on November 8th 1969. The following connection, pointed out on many Zodiac forums is extremely tenuous, nevertheless it has relevance to the following segments in the Lake Herman Road police report.

On page 31 it states "Joe was interviewed at the Faraday residence, 1930 Sereno Drive. He was a personal friend of David. He states David had no enemies to his knowledge. David met Betty Lou approximately a week ago at the Pythian Castle where they were decorating the hall for a social event".

On page 53 it states "Mrs Faraday stated she did not know Betty Lou that she and David had only been going together for a short time, she had never met Betty Lou. She stated she did not know of any enemies David may have had. She stated that on Friday night at 7:10 pm David drove his sister Debbie to a meeting of the Rainbow Girls at the Pythian Castle on Sonoma Boulevard, and David came back home at 7:20 pm and left again at 7:30 pm. Responding officer talked to Debbie Faraday, WFJ 16 years, sister of David. She relates the following David told her on the afternoon of Friday 12/20/68 that he was going out to Lake Herman Road that night because a bunch of the kids were going out there that night".

Here is an extract from the Calvary Baptist Church: "Calvary Baptist Church held its first services on Sunday, January 13, 1959. Pastor Emmit Duckett and the Fairfield Baptist Church commissioned the beginning of Calvary Baptist Church on February 1, 1959. On that day, the 20 charter members unanimously called Patrick Everitt as their pastor. The first meeting place was the Pythian Castle Hall at 2618 Sonoma Boulevard in Vallejo, California". link.

This following snippet is from the Vallejo Times-Herald newspaper on December 22nd 1968: "The Jensen girl, whose family resides at 123 Ridgewood Ct, was a native of Colorado. She was a junior and an honor student at Hogan High School. She was also grand royal guide of Prima Vera Council 32. Pythian Sunshine Girls".

On the left is the emblem of the Knights of Pythias, referring to  Friendship, Charity and Benevolence. The Knights of Pythias was the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was founded by Justus H. Rathbone who had been inspired by a play by the Irish poet John Banim about the legend of Damon and Pythias. This legend illustrates the ideals of loyalty, honor, and friendship that are the center of the order. The order has over 2,000 lodges in the United States and around the world, with a total membership of over 50,000 in 2003. The order is headquartered in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Some lodges meet in structures referred to as Pythian Castles. Extract from Wikipedia. The Pythian Sisters have a youth affiliate, the Pythian Sunshine Girls, started in 1930. It is open to girls 8–20 and has local Councils in Arizona, New Mexico, California, Ohio, Virginia and Texas,.

Albeit one character is reversed, the 340 cipher contains the letters FBC from the Knights of Pythias emblem, on the ninth and thirteenth lines. Had David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen come into contact with their killer through the Knights of Pythias fraternal organization - and somebody who knew their plans on Friday night. The Pythian Castle Hall at 2618 Sonoma Boulevard is only 24 minutes walking distance from the Springs and Tuolumne payphone. However, there is somewhere that lies inside our 15 minute walking radius from the payphone, that may have some greater relevance regarding the Zodiac Killer and the Knights of Pythias. Listed in the 1969 Vallejo directory under 1020 Alabama Street is The Knights of Pythias Organization 643-6087 and The Navy City Elks Lodge No 1268 643-6087. The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is a fraternal order founded in 1868, with veteran services provided by the society. The Elks pledge that "So long as there are veterans, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks will never forget them." Wikipedia link. 1020 Alabama Street is approximately 14 minutes or 0.7 miles from the Springs and Tuolumne payphone, that may center the Zodiac Killer's location very close to Alabama Street and Sanoma Boulevard, or indeed The Knights of Pythias Organization and The Navy City Elks Lodge.  The Mare Island Naval Shipyard is also in close proximity. ​However, If the Zodiac Killer did not live in this area, was he a staff member or visitor of these organizations? And did he at any time cross paths with David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen? It's a slim possibility, but can it be ruled out?

In 1975, an FBI document detailed a possible Zodiac correspondence which has become known as the 'Equinox' letter. The slip of paper was yellow in color and the message was largely handwritten in blue felt tip pen. The style of the writing has more in common with the Zodiac Red Phantom letter rather than his copious other earlier communications, nevertheless, it is interesting for a number of reasons, other than the obvious astrology connection.

A man from Fresno, California, handed it in to law enforcement and stated that "over the July 4th 1975 weekend he had visited his brother-in-law at his residence in Oakland, California. During the visit his brother-in-law had showed him a 1968 Datsun 1600 sports car bearing California license plates, which he said had been given to him a week before by a co-employee. The car had not been driven for some time and had no 1975 registration tags. In the front floorboard of the vehicle he found the enclosed note among some newspapers and other discarded papers. He said he read a good deal about the Zodiac murder case and feels this note may have been written by Zodiac. He advised he further suspects that his brother-in-law may be involved because of his hippy-type life style and because his brother-in-law once told him he was at the scene of the taxicab driver murder in San Francisco the night it occurred and made very discouraging remarks about the police investigation into the matter. He advised he reported this to the Fresno Police Department but did not feel that anything was done with the information, and he, therefore, contacted the FBI with his present information".   

The note began with EQUINOX 3:33 p.m.
The note appeared to be almost three years old, based on the date of September 22nd 1972, which was offered on the next line. A quick check of the September 22nd Equinox in 1972 for Oakland, gives us a Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) of 15:32 or 3:32 pm, which almost matches the exact time displayed on the Equinox letter.

At the foot of the note the author has highlighted in bold capitals FULL ARIES MOON. September 22nd 1972 was a full moon. September 22nd is the final day of Virgo in the horoscope calendar. The 14th April (4/14/41) falls under the ARIES sign, but there was no full moon in 1941 for this date. It was a full moon on April 11th 1941 in Aries. It was a new moon on October 11th 1969 when Paul Stine was murdered in San Francisco. Seemingly Phil G was an Aries and September 22nd 1972 was a full moon.

The note began with "Equinox 3:33 p.m. Can't make it Sat. Nite but the spell is broken & I hope I'll see you more than ever?"

Just under three months prior to this letter, Edward J Salmina, sports editor of the Novato Advance received a hand-printed 'death note' signed Zodiac. The newspaper article of June 30th 1972 read The hand-printed letter said: "If you leave your house past 3:13:47 on the next ten Saturdays, you will be killed". In the lower left corner under the heading "message" were a series of symbols. Salmina of 25 Crescent Lane told police he didn't know who or why anyone would send him such a letter". Crescent Lane is situated in Novato, Marin County, approximately thirty miles from Oakland (where the brother-in-law lived).

The two similarities between the Equinox note and the Death note sent to Edward J Salmina, were the time presented on each correspondence. The first note, sent just prior to June 30th 1972 stated a time of 3:13:47, the second note on September 22nd 1972, a time of 3:33 p.m. - only 19 minutes difference. The second similarity was the mention of Saturday in both notes. Incidentally, ten Saturdays from the date of the Death note would have been September 2nd 1972, twenty days before the Equinox note. 

The third event in this 30 mile radius was the attempted murder of Isobel Watson. Isobel Watson (33) had just got off the bus on the evening of April 7th 1972, and was walking home along Pine Hill Road, Tamalpais Valley, Marin County at 9:00 pm, when a light colored vehicle veered towards her, knocking her to the ground. [view on google maps]. The driver exited his vehicle offering to take her home, but after she had refused his offer of apparent help a second time, the concerned citizen suddenly became enraged, pulling out a knife and stabbing the woman in the neck and shoulder. ​Her screams alerted the neighborhood, forcing the assailant into a hasty retreat from the scene.

She was treated at Marin General Hospital and fortunately survived the brutal attack. Her description of the man alerted investigators to a possible Zodiac connection, that of a man with heavy rimmed black glasses, in his early 40s, 5'9" in height and short brown hair. It was not overlooked by police that the killer had attempted to lure the woman into his vehicle, not dissimilar to the method employed in the Modesto abduction of Kathleen Johns. These are three unlikely Zodiac connections, however, all three occurred in relatively close proximity to one another within a six month period. 

Subsequent to writing this article the identity of the author of the Equinox letter has been named as Phillip Gordon Gietzen. Thanks to Mike Morford.